By Caroline McMillan Portillo, The Charlotte Observer
Tony Vo had never heard of Bitcoin before one of the regular customers at his then-1-month-old Waterbean Coffee shop asked him whether he accepted it as payment.
Bitcoin is a new currency that was created in 2009 by an unknown person using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto. Transactions are made with no middle men – meaning, no banks! Photo from Bitcoin Magazine
Four months later, the Cornelius, N.C., business owner is one of the pioneering owners of small businesses to incorporate the controversial digital currency in his payment options. He’s had nearly 30 customers pay with Bitcoin – most heard through a Bitcoin Meetup group that he accepts it – and now other businesses are following suit.
“Recently I had a window-cleaning guy call me and ask about it, and a franchisee (who) sells sandwiches,” Vo said.
“It’s catching on a lot.”
And like many people who have embraced the potential of Bitcoin – as a marketing tool if nothing less – Vo isn’t fazed by the ongoing debate over the currency’s legitimacy or staying power in the wake of a nearly $500 million Bitcoin exchange fiasco that generated headlines such as “Bitcoin’s future in jeopardy” and “Huge heist or sloppy glitch?”
First, though, here’s how Bitcoin works: It’s a digital currency that was created in 2009 and began gaining widespread attention in 2013. Anyone can download a program on their computer and use certain online exchanges to convert dollars to bitcoins. The bitcoins can then be transferred directly – and anonymously – between two users anywhere in the world, without credit card fees. You can also buy things in tiny fractions of a bitcoin, which is how someone can use the digital money to buy a cup of coffee.
For now, it’s unregulated, which is why the relative worth of a bitcoin could fluctuate by hundreds of dollars in a single day. At its highest, a single bitcoin was worth about $1,200. As of Wednesday, a bitcoin was trading above $600. But that’s a long way from the currency’s humble beginnings; at one point, people were buying a bitcoin for 13 cents. Many of those early investors are now multimillionaires.
Businesses that offer Bitcoin as one of many payment options can keep the money in Bitcoin for no fee. It’s an attractive option to entrepreneurs who are willing to gamble on whether the currency will continue to rise in value.
Then there are owners and individuals, such as Vo, who use software that automatically transfers Bitcoin to U.S. dollars for a small fee of about 1 percent – smaller than the typical credit and debit card fees.
Vo said the popular payment service Square takes on a 2.75 percent charge to every transaction.
Read the full story by Caroline McMillan Portillo from The Charlotte Observer.
